BEIJING -- International scientific and technological cooperation is a major trend, and countries should jointly promote the cause of peace and development for humanity through scientific and technological innovation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said recently.

Xi made the remarks in reply to a letter from renowned Cuban scientist Pedro A. Valdes-Sosa.

Noting that Valdes-Sosa has long been committed to enhancing the special friendship between Cuba and China and actively promoting scientific research cooperation between China and other countries, the Chinese president congratulated Valdes-Sosa and his team on having achieved breakthroughs in multiple areas.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xi said, stressing that the fundamental starting point and focus of this initiative are to explore new ways of common development among different countries, and to open up a "road to happiness" that benefits all countries and the world.

Over the past decade, Xi said, China has made significant progress in accelerating scientific and technological exchanges and knowledge sharing with participating countries, continuously optimizing the innovation environment, gathering innovation resources, and pushing forward cooperation on scientific and technological innovation.

Xi pointed out that the traditional friendship established by the older generation of leaders from China and Cuba has been flourishing and continuously bearing rich fruits.

Since last year, the two sides have reached important consensus on jointly building a China-Cuba community with a shared future, said Xi, expressing sincere hope that China-Cuba cooperation in various fields including science and technology could continue to deepen in the new era, so as to better benefit the people of the two countries.

In a recent letter to Xi, Valdes-Sosa told the Chinese president about his team's achievements in promoting brain-science research and China-Cuba cooperation on neurotechnology in China.

The Cuban scientist also expressed his willingness to continue to enhance China-Cuba friendship and contribute to the implementation of the BRI on a larger scale in the world.